Stake-holder.



No. -660,89|. Patentei Oct. 30, |900.

J. GUWAN. Y

STARE HOLDER.

(Application filed May 29, 1900.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

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, .1. cowAn.

STAKE HDLDER. I

(Appnmion med my 29, i900.)

(No Model.) A 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES cowAN, or AIEA, HAWAII.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,891 dated October30, 1900` I Application filed May 29, 1900. Serial No. 18,4044.l (Nomodel.)

T0 all whom, t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JAMES COWAN, a subject of the Queen of GreatBritain, and a resident of Aiea, Oahu, Hawaii, have invented a new andImproved Stake-Holder, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to improvements in stake-holders, particularlystakes for railwaycar platforms; and the object is to provide a holderfrom which a stake may be quickly and easily removed, and, further, toprovide a stake-holder having no detachable parts liable to be lost.

vI will describe' a stake-holder embodying my invention and then pointout the novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, formingapart ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion .of a car-platform, showinga stake-holder embodying my invention as applied thereto. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation on the line 9c of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a frontelevation. Fig. 4 is a side elevation. Fig. 5 is an end View of anoperating-shaft employed. Fig. 6 is a.

side view thereof. Fig. 7 is a section on the line y y of Fig. 8,showing a modication; and Fig. Sis a section on the linezzof Fig. 7.

The stake-holder comprises a casing having a back wall 1, side walls 2,a stop 3 at the lower end, with which the lower end of a stake mayengage, and a swinging front plate 4. The front plate 4 is mounted atits lower end on an eccentric-shaft 5, having bearings in the side walls2, and this shaft has an outward projection 6, provided with an openinginto which an operating-lever 7 may be passed. It is to be understood,however, that this operating-lever is not a fixed portion of the device,as it may be removed andv placed in any convenient holder. At the upperend the front plate 4 has lateral projections 8, de-

signed to pass through outwardly-opening recesses 9, formed in the frontedges of the side plates 2 and to engage in recesses 10 at the upperportion of said recesses 9, as plainly indicated in the drawings. Aspring l1 is attached to the stop 3 and has its free end engaged againstthe outer surface of the swinging frontplate 4. This spring l1 isdesigned to automatically move the front plate to pass the lateralprojections 8 into the recesses 9. A spring 12 is connected at one endto a stud 13 on one of the side plates, and this spring is coiled aroundthe projected end 6 of the eccentric-shaft and has its end attachedthereto; but the spring maybe at the opposite end- In the operation ot'this example of myimprovement when it is desired to loosen or release astake, so thatit may be easily removed, the eccentric-shaft is to berocked by means of the lever 7, and this rocking motion will cause thefront plate 4 to move downward, disengaging it from the recesses 10 andthen moving it slightly outward through the recesseslgto the 'positionindicated in Fig. 4. The pressure thus being relieved from the stake, itis obvious that the stake may be readily drawn out. Upon releasing thelever 7 the spring 12 will rotate the eccentric-shaft, causing the frontplate to move upward, so that it will again engage the recesses 10.Before this upward movement the spring 1l will force the front plateagainst the walls 2, and before any upward movement takes place as theeccentric revolves the front plate 4 will be raised to position and intothe recesses 9.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown the front plate 4 as attached to a shaft14, which has its ends secured to crank-arms 15, extended from arock-shaft 16, having bearings in the side walls or plates 2 of thedevice, one end of said shaft being projected and provided with anopening to receive an operating-lever,

as before described. In this example ofthe improvement the shaft 14 isrocked and the front plate 4 moved upward by means of a spring 17,attached to the stop-plate 8 and engaging against the lower end of saidfront plate, as indicated in Fig. 7. The spring 11 engages with theouter surface of the front plate, as before described. Obviously byrotating the rock-shaft 1.6 the crank-arms 15 will draw the front plate4 downward, andthe operation thereof willbe the same as before describedin connection with the example shown in Figs. 1 to 6, It is to be notedthat the crank-arms15 and the eccentric-shaft 5 are equivalents, as theyare both cranks in fact.

ICO

l'lavinpr thus described my invention, i claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent.-

l. A stake-holder, comprising side plates, a swinging front plate, meansfor swinging said front plate to open position, and means forautomatically moving said front plate to its closed position,substantially as specified.

2. A stake-holder, consisting of side plates and a back plate, aswingingr front plate adapted for locking engagement with the sideplates, and means for simultaneously moving said front plate downwardand outward, substantially as specified.

A stake-holder, comprising side plates and a back plate, a swingingfront. plate adapt ed for locking engagement with the side plates, aneccentric-shaft on which said front plate is mounted, a spring engagingwith the front plate, and a spring connecting at one end to a side plateand at the other end to the eccentric-shaft and operating to move thefront plate to its closing position, substantially as specified.

4. A stake-holder, comprising`r side plates, an eccentric-shaft havinghearings in said side plates, the projectingr end of said shaft beingrprovided with au opening to receive an operating-lever, a front platemounted on said eccentric-shaft, lateral projections at the upper end ofsaid front plate adapted to pass into outwardly-opening recesses in theside plates,'and to engage at the upper ends in recesses formed in theside plates, and means for automatically moving the front plate to itsclosing position, substantially as specified.

5. A holder for a oar-stake, comprising a casing having,r a swingingfront wall or plate, and means for automaticall)T moving said front wallor plate to looking connection with the casing, substantially asspecified.

' 6. A stake-holder, one Wall of which is mounted to swing, and meansfor raising and lowering the said wall, in addition to the swingingmovement, the said raising and lowering serving to engage and disengagethe Said wall.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JAMES` COVVAN.

lVi tnesses:

RoBT. CAT'roN, ROB. ANDERSON.

